Rotary internal combustion engine

ABSTRACT

A rotary internal combustion engine wherein the reciprocating pistons and piston rod assemblies drive a crankshaft in one direction and the pistons, cylinders and crankcase are caused to rotate in an opposite direction and are synchronized through appropriate gearing to drive the crankshaft in the same direction as driven by the pistons. For every one revolution of the pistons and crankcase in one direction, there are three rotations of the crankshaft in an opposite direction.

United States Patent [191 Gibson 1 ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE [76] Inventor: Troy W. Gibson, 74 Milan Ave.,

Norwalk, Ohio 44857 [22] Filed: June 4, 1973 [21] App]. No.: 366,723

[52] US. Cl 123/44 R, 123/44 D, 91/6.5 [51] Int. Cl. F0211 57/00 [58] Field of Search 123/44 R, 44 D; 91/6.5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,220,455 3/1917 Rasmusen 123/44 D 1,301,359 4/1919 Beckman .1 123/44 2,242,231 5/1941 Cantoni 123/44 D 2,273,025 2/1942 Dillstrom 2,273,900 2/1942 Sklenar 123/44 D Dec. 31, 1974 2,300,094 10/1942 Beaven 123/44 2,433,933 1/1948 Stucke.... 123/44 3,205,877 9/1965 Rychlik 123/44 Primary ExaminerClarence R. Gordon Attorney, Agent, or Firm-David H. Wilson [57] ABSTRACT A rotary internal combustion engine wherein the reciprocating pistons and piston rod assemblies drive a crankshaft in one direction and the pistons, cylinders and crankcase are caused to rotate in an opposite di rection and are synchronized through appropriate gearing to drive the crankshaft in the same direction as driven by the pistons. For every one revolution of the pistons and crankcase in one direction, there arethree rotations of the crankshaft in an opposite direction.

7 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures PATENTED DEE3 1 I974 sum 10F 5 FIG] PAIENTED 3.857.371

sum 20F 5' FIG.B

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Advantages have been appreciated in rotary internal combustion engine construction and considerable time, energy, and money has been expended to simplify such engines and to improve their efficiency. Among the objectives of previous inventors has been to design a rotary internal combustion engine that not only possesses the advantage of directness in the application of power, but in addition, is compact and simple in construction.

It is an object of the invention to produce a rotary internal combustion engine wherein the application of power is applied directly to the output shaft from the reciprocating pistons and also simultaneously to the output from the rotating crankcase through suitable synchronized gearing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view of a rotary internal combustion engine incorporating the features of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary side sectional view of the engine structure illustrated in FIG. 8 showing the crankshaft being rotated in one direction through approximately one hundred twenty degrees and the cylinder, crankcase, and piston being rotatedv in an opposite direction through approximately 45;

FIG. 10 is a front view of the engine illustrated in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a view of the engine illustrated in FIG. 8 taken from the inside of the rear housing thereof;

FIG. 12 is a view of the opposite side of the end of the engine illustratedin FIG. 10 showing the fuel inlet ports and exhaust gas ports;

FIG. 13 is an illustration of the gear train for driving the camshaft for actuating an inlet and outlet valve means as viewed from the front of the engine; and

FIG. 14 is an illustration of the gear train for applying the power to the driveshaft from the rotating crankcase of the structure illustrated in FIG. 8 as viewed from the interior of the rear of the engine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT inder B has completed one third of the exhaust stroke, the piston of cylinder C has completed two thirds of the intake stroke.

Continuing with the operation, FIG. 2 shows the cylinders and crankcase being rotated through approximately 30 counterclockwise, while the crankshaft has rotated through in a clockwise direction. The piston of cylinder A has traveled through two thirds of the power stroke; the piston of cylinder B is at its top dead center position after completing the exhaust stroke and about to start the intake stroke; and piston of cylinder C has traveled through one third of the compression stroke.

FIG. 3 shows a further stage of the operation of the engine, wherein the cylinders and crankcase have been rotated through an additional 30 counterclockwise from the position in FIG. 2, and the crankshaft has been rotated through an additional 90 in a clockwise direction. At this position, the piston in cylinder A has traveled through approximately one third of the exhaust stroke; the piston in cylinder B has traveled two thirds of the intake stroke; the piston in cylinder Chas reached top dead center after its compression stroke; and the spark plug in the cylinder has been energized to start the piston in the power stroke.

It will be appreciated the above sequence of operation for each cylinder continues in a conventional internal combustion engine mode. FIGS. 1 through 7, inclusive, show the sequence wherein the bank of cylinders and associated crankcase are rotated in a counterclockwise direction through one half of a revolution, while the crankshaft has been rotated in an opposite direction through one and one half revolutions.

. 7 Referring to FIGS. 8 through 14, inclusive, the rotating engine of the invention is illustrated in detail and 7 comprises a stationary outer housingl0 which may typically be formed in two separate half sections provided with threaded fasteners spaced around the periphery thereof to satisfactorily fasten the sections together. The front section of the housing 10 may be provided with an access opening 12 to facilitate the repair, replacement, and adjustment of the internal components of the engine. The front section of the housing 10 contains a bearing 14 for rotatin'gly supporting or journaling the forward portion of adriveshaft 16, the opposite end of which is rota'tingly supported or journalled in a bearing 18 mounted in the rear wall of the housing 10. Mounted within the interior of the outer housing 10 and integral with the driveshaft 16 is the crankshaft I portion 20;

Mounted for rotation within the interior of the housing 10 is a crankcase 22 having two spaced apart bearings 24 and 26 disposed within the interior of the crankcase 22 and on opposite sides of the crankcase 20, and a bearing 28 mounted exteriorly of the crankcase 22. The bearings 24, 26 and 28 are rotatingly supported on the driveshaft 16. The bearing 28 is. a thrust bearing type having a cooperating spring 30.

Exteriorly finned air cooled cylinders 32 are mounted within suitably disposed apertures in the exterior walls of the crankcase 22. In the preferred embodiment, there are three cylinders 32 spaced at intervals from one another. A removable cylinder head 34 is suitably secured to the outer end of each of the cylinders 32. The cylinder heads 34 are formed in the same fashion as the cylinders 32 to provide means for assisting in the removal of heat energy therefrom. Each cylinder 32 has a cooperating piston 36 disposed for reciprocating movement therein. The pistons 36 (only a single one being illustrated in FIGS. 8 through 14, inclusive) are coupled to the crankshaft portion 20 of the driveshaft 16 by a connecting rod 38 in a conventional manner.

Each of the cylinder heads 34 is provided with a combustion space 40 and a spark plug 42. The side walls of the cylinders 32 are formed to contain an inlet and outlet passage 44 which is intermittently caused to communicate with the combustion space 40 and the interior of the cylinder 32 by means of a valve 46. The stem of the valve 46 is provided with a valve spring 48 which norm ally tends to urge the valve 46 into a closed seated position. Each of the valves 46 is caused to open at the desired moment and remain open for the desired interval by a camshaft 50, the opposite end portions of which are suitably journalled in the side walls of the crankcase 22 by bearings 52 and 54. Only a single camshaft 50 is illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9; however, in FIG. '13 the end view shows the relative disposition of the other camshafts 50 which are designated with primed reference numerals; namely, 50' and 50". It will be noted from an examination of FIGS. 8 and 13, the camshafts S0, 50', and 50" are provided with a gear 55, S 55" respectively. keyed to the end thereof which extends through the crankcase wall. Each of the camshaft gears 55, 5S and 55" is drivingly coupled to the driveshaft 16 through idler gears 58, 58 and 58", respectively, which are rotatingly mounted on the outer side of the side wall of the crankcase 22 and thence a gear 56 which is suitably keyed to the driveshaft 16. Accordingly, as the crankshaft 16 is driven in a clockwise direction, the camshafts 50, 50' and 50" will simultaneously be driven ina clockwise direction.

An access opening having'a removable cover 60 is provided in the side wall of each of the cylinders 32 to insure availabilityof the stem of the valve 46 and the valve spring '48.

The interior surface of the front side of the outer housing is provided with an annular bearing; surface 62 having two sets of diametrically opposed intake openings 64 and 66, and two sets of diametrically opposed exhaust openings 68 and 70,'as clearly illustrated in FIG. 12. Secured to the cylinders 32'and adapted to rotate therewith is an intake and exhaust ring 72 which mates with the annular bearing surface 62. The spring 30 and the associated thrust bearing 28 function'to maintain the desired pressure of the intake and exhaust ring 72 against the mating bearing surface 62.

The intake openings 64 and 66 communicate with a carburetor 74 through manifold pipes 76 and 78, respectively, which are secured to the front surface of the outer housing 10. The exhaust openings 68 and 70 communicate with an exhaust pipe 80 through exhaust manifolds 82 and 84, respectively. Communication with the interior chamber of the cylinders32 is effected through a pipe 85 one end of which is connected to the inlet and outlet passage 44 while the opposite end is connected to the intake and exhaust ring 72.

An electrical distributor network 86 has two spark output wires-88 and 90 which areelectrically coupled to insulated conductive contacts 92 and 94, respectively, on the interior surface of the front side of the outer housing 10. The spark plugs 42 for each of the cylinders 32 have an electrical conductor element 96 which periodically will sweep across the contacts 92 and 94 at the proper sequence to tire the cylinders. The rotor of the distributor 86 has a rotor shaft 98 extending through a portion of the outer housing 10. A driving gear 100 is suitably keyed to a shaft 98 and meshes with a gear 102 keyed to one end of a shaft 104. The opposite end of the shaft 104 has a gear 106 suitably keyed thereto which meshes with side teeth on a ring gear 108. Beneath the gear 102, the shaft 104 extends downwardly to be drivingly coupled to an oil pump which is utilized to pump lubricating oil to all needed parts of the engine. The ring gear 108 is fixedly secured to the outer surface of the crankcase 22 by means of spaced apart stand-offs 110. Internal teeth of the ring gear 108 mesh with an gear 112 which is keyed to a shaft 114 rotatably mounted in a suitable bearing in the interior wall of the outer housing 10. Also a gear 116 is keyed to the shaft 114 and will be rotated by rotation of the gear 112 which, in turn, is driven by the ring gear 108 coupled to the rotating crankcase 22.

The gear 116 meshes with the gear 118 which is keyed to the driveshaft 16.

In operation of the engine construction described above, it will be assumed that the piston 36, FIG. 8, has reached the top of its compression stroke, the crankshaft 20 is at the top dead center condition, and the spark plug 42 has fired. The spark plug 42 is caused to be tired because the electrical wiper of the spark plug 42 is in electrical contact with the wiper contact 92 (FIG. 12) which is connected to the distributor 86 by the spark wire 88. As the explosion of fuel occurs in the combustion chamber 40, the rapid expansion of the heated gases forces the piston 36 inwardly to rotate the crankshaft 20 and the driveshaft 16 in a clockwise direction. Simultaneously, crankcase22 is caused to rotate in a counterclockwisedirection. The valve 46 remains closed during the completion of the stroke. When the piston reaches the bottom of the power stroke, the crankshaft 20 has rotated in a clockwise direction and simultaneously drives the gear 56 in the same direction which inturn will drive the idler gear 58 in a counterclockwise direction. The gear 58 will, in turn, drive the gear 55in a clockwise direction. The

gear 55 being keyed to the shaft 50 will impart rotation to the shaft 50 and its associated cam to open the valve 46 during the upward travel of the piston 36 during the exhaust stroke. The piston 36 exhausts or scavenges the spent gases from within the cylinder causing the same to be directed through the passage 44, the pipe 85, the rotating-intake of exhaust ring 72, and the outlet ports 70. From the outlet ports 70, the exhaust gases are expelled from the engine through the outlet manifold 84 thence to the exhaust pipe 80.

Continuing with the operation, the valve 46 remains open and the pipe and the rotating intake, and exhaust ring 72 rotating with the cylinders and the crankcase, align with the first of an array of inlet ports 64 which communicate with the inlet manifold 78 from the carburetor 74. At this point, the piston has reached top dead center of its travel and commences its downward intake stroke. During the downward travel of the piston 36, one end of the pipe 85 and the rotating intake and exhaust ring 72 sweep across the inlet ports 68 allowing a fuel and air mixture to enter the interior of the cylinder 32. When the piston 36 reaches the bottom of its intake stroke, the camshaft 50 has rotateda sufficient amount such that the associated cam permits the valve 45 to be returned to a closed seated position by the valve spring 48. With the valve closed, the piston starts its upward compression stroke. Just before the piston 36 has reached top dead center of the compression stroke, the spark plug 42 is energized by the wiper contact of the spark plug 42 contacting the contact 94 which is coupled to the distributor 86 through the spark wire 90. Manifestly, when the spark plug 42 is energized, the compressed fuel and air mixture is ignited and the hot expanding gases force the piston 36 downwardly. The above description has explained the phenomenon which occurs through one cycle of a single cylinder, for example, cylinder A of FIGS. 1 through 7. Simultaneously, it will be seen from an examination of FIGS. 1 through 7, inclusive, the phenomenon occurring in the other cylinders. It will be understood that during the duty cycle of one piston, the other two pistons are accomplishing other phases of the cycle as illustrated diagrammatically in FIGS. 1 through 7. While mention was made of the exhaust port 70 and intake ports 64, the subsequent cylinder to be energized will utilize the exhaust ports 68 and the intake ports 66 in that sequence.

As the pistons impart clockwise rotation to the crankshaft 20, the cylinders and the associated crankcase 22 is caused to be rotated in an opposite direction. However, the counter rotating motion of the crankshaft 20 and the crankcase 22 is synchronizingly interconnected by the ring gear, 108 integral with the crankcase, the gears 112 and 116 keyed to the shaft 114 adapted to rotate about an axis fixed with respect to the outer housing and the gear 118 keyed to the shaft 16 which is an extension of the crankshaft 20. The gear train is selected such that for every three rotations of the gear 118 (shaft 16), there will be a single rotation of the ring gear 108 (crankcase).

It will be appreciated from the above description, that as the pistons of the engine are driven by the ignited fuel mixture, the pistons will drive the crankshaft in a clockwise direction, as viewed from the front of the engine, while the cylinders and crankcase are driven in an opposite direction wherein the rotational ratio between the crankshaft and the crankcase is maintained.

at a 3:1 principally by the synchronizing function-of the I However, it is to be understood that within the spirit and scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

What I claim is:

l. A rotary internal combustion engine comprising:

a crankshaft journaled for rotation about an axis;

a crankcase journaled for rotation about the axis of said crankshaft and encompassing a portion of said crankshaft;

cylinder means radially mounted on said crankcase in spaced relation about said crankshaft;

a reciprocating piston disposed within each of said chlinder means and coupled with said crankshaft for driving the same in one direction upon reciprocation of said pistons in said cylinders and said crankcase and cylinders in an opposite direction, whereby said pistons alternately compress an explosive mixture in each cylinder and are displaced by explosion of the compressed mixture therein;

gear means drivingly interconnecting said rotating crankcase to said crankshaft whereby when said pistons impart rotary motion to said crankshaft, said gear means transmits synchronized rotary motion to said crankshaft from said crankcase; and

a stationary outer housing within which said crankshaft is journaled and wherein said outer housing contains diametrically opposed inlet ports.

2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said gear means includes a ring gear affixed to said crankcase, a gear keyed to said crankshaft, and intermediate gear means interconnecting said ring gear and said gear keyed to said crankshaft.

3. The invention defined in claim 2 wherein the ratio of said ring gear to said crankshaft gear is 1:3.

4. The invention defined in claim 1 including a single valve providing communication with the interior of said cylinders.

5. The invention defined in claim 4 including an intake and exhaust conduit means for selectively introducing an explosive mixture to said cylinders through said valve and exhausting the spent combustion products fromsaid cylinders. 1

6. The invention defined in claim 5 .wherein said conduit means includes a rotating intake and exhaust ring.

tively alignable with said conduit means. 

1. A rotary internal combustion engine comprising: a crankshaft journaled for rotation about an axis; a crankcase journaled for rotation about the axis of said crankshaft and encompassing a portion of said crankshaft; cylinder means radially mounted on said crankcase in spaced relation about said crankshaft; a reciprocating piston disposed within each of said chlinder means and coupled with said crankshaft for driving the same in one direction upon reciprocation of said pistons in said cylinders and said crankcase and cylinders in an opposite direction, whereby said pistons alternately compress an explosive mixture in each cylinder and are displaced by explosion of the compressed mixture therein; gear means drivingly interconnecting said rotating crankcase to said crankshaft whereby when said pistons impart rotary motion to said crankshaft, said gear means transmits synchronized rotary motion to said crankshaft from said crankcase; and a stationary outer housing within which said crankshaft is journaled and wherein said outer housing contains diametrically opposed inlet ports.
 2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said gear means includes a ring gear affixed to said crankcase, a gear keyed to said crankshaft, and intermediate gear means interconnecting said ring gear and said gear keyed to said crankshaft.
 3. The invention defined in claim 2 wherein the ratio of said ring gear to said crankshaft gear is 1:3.
 4. The invention defined in claim 1 including a single valve providing communication with the interior of said cylinders.
 5. The invention defined in claim 4 including an intake and exhaust conduit means for selectively introducing an explosive mixture to said cylinders through said valve and exhausting the spent combustion products from said cylinders.
 6. The invention defined in claim 5 wherein said conduit means includes a rotating intake and exhaust ring.
 7. The invention defined in claim 6 wherein said outer housing contains diametrically opposed exhaust ports wherein said inlet and exhaust ports are selectively alignable with said conduit means. 